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Sperm Count

Hello,

My husband’s sperm count was only 10% last year but after 6 months of medicine it has now increased to 55% (last test was 6 months back) but my doctor says it is still not enough. When she saw the reports, her exact comments were “with this sperm count you should at least abort 2-3 times" I don't know what it means. Should we go for another sperm count test?

What medicine was your husband taking, and has he continued to take it over the past 6 months? Does he smoke, drink or do recreational drugs?

When you have sperm tested, they will usually test count (the number of sperm), morphology (how they are formed) and motility (how well they swim in a somewhat straight line). If your husband's sperm morphology was low, but mobility was good, and it was able to actually penetrate the egg, then the possibility of that embryo not forming properly may be high, and thus the doctor's comment that you should expect to abort (miscarry) 2-3 times, might make sense.

It could also mean that you're conceiving but having very early miscarriages, so early that you don't even know you're pregnant.

I wouldn't worry about the doctor's comment, but instead I'd focus on increasing your husband's sperm quality and quantity and I've seen some wonderful results with diet and lifestyle changes, and the support of specific herbs which he can take.

I'd consider having his sperm checked again to see what your baseline is now, and if it's still low (or lower than before) you can work to increase it. The more high quality sperm the higher your chances of conceiving a truly healthy baby. Sometimes IUI can help in a low sperm count situation, but it won't help if the sperm quality is not good - you might conceive, but the chance of miscarriage would higher than if you worked on creating higher sperm quality first.

Thank you , Yes he does drink but very occasionally and that too he is a social drinker (not more than 2 or 3 small pegs in two weeks) . He is very active (goes to gym 2 hours daily, goes for a morning run) but he has not been taking any medicine in the last one year.
Can you suggest some diet changes?

If you're husband is going to the gym for 2 hours a day, you'll want to be sure he's not cycling (too much heat generated to the scrotum and pressure on the testicles). The scrotum sacs are located on the outside of a man's body because body heat is too hot and will kill the sperm. He will also want to avoid the sauna, jacuzzi and warm baths. No heat to that area.

Research has shown that drinking alcoholic beverages lowers sperm count, and lowers the number of sperm that have good motility (movement). It has also shown that men who drink have a higher number of abnormal sperm. Being that your husband is already experiencing a challenge with his sperm, I would suggestion that he consider avoiding alcohol altogether while you are trying to conceive.

Alcohol also makes it so that the body cannot absorb as many nutrients, including zinc, which is one of the most important minerals for a man's fertility.

Your husband may want to consider taking a zinc supplement and I'd recommend that you have a professional prescribe what kind and how much.

Foods that are high in zinc include raw pumpkin seeds, roast beef, lamb and peanuts (do a search for "foods high in zinc" to find more).

It's really important that both you and your husband start preconception care which includes eating foods that will increase fertility and avoiding exposure to substances that decrease fertility.

Let me know if you learn anything new after you read the preconception care page.

Cervix position is one of the hardest fertility signs to read. I would suggest that you balance your hormones first so that you're getting regular cycles, and THEN you'll be able to better read your body's cervical mucus changes, and ovulation predictor tests will be more accurate.

I will create a thread that discusses cervical changes in more detail and will post back with the link.

In the mean time, take this PCOS test and let me know what your result is.